Fri., Nov. 14, 1997, Breckenridge, CO, Alligator Lounge -- Well, it finally happened...a bummer gig. Things started out okay...we loaded in, breathing labored from the 9600-foot altitude. The club referred us to Rasta Pasta, a kind of Jamaican-Italian joint to eat (food was really good), and then gave us the elaborate directions to the "band house". This was a ground floor of a house with no door lock, no central heating, no electricity in about half the space, and broken down furniture and TV. There was about a foot of snow outside and it was COLD. Okay, so we're flexible and we're road dogs, so, hey, it's temporary. We get to the gig early and sit around watching the Lakers take out the Rockets in double overtime, meanwhile Joanna is having a fairly serious bout of altitude sickness with 170 heartrate, dizziness and nausea. The young, bouncy "sound girl", came breezing in shortly before the show for the sound check, full of attitude and angst, flaunting a bra-less tight semi-shirt and navel exuding hip-huggers (did I mention tight?). Joanna was in no mood for her shit and told her so, meanwhile one of the club owners, Todd, meanders by with an oxygen tank intended for his brother. Joanna asked if she could get a bit of the O2, and after Joanna was hooked up to it O2, she was much better. A six-month pregnancy and altitude sickness is not something to take lightly, and Todd was making it seem like Joanna was a wimp. Tony, Vic and I started off the show with a snappy Shotgun-type groove thang, and we got Joanna up. The combination of feedback, audience disinterest and altitude made it hard to get anything rolling, but we toughed it out. We were about 50 minutes into the second set when Darnell delivers the message to the stage that management wanted us to play for another 40 minutes. I was flagging myself, and Joanna was positively pale. Pissed but compliant we shoved ourselves through a 90-minute set with people piling out of the club in droves. By the time we were done, there were about 8 people left. We loaded out slowly--I felt like I was moving underwater...